And as the jabs and jokes piled up from neighbors, friends and co-workers, the diehard Blackhawks fan had a breakthrough while watching his team’s bearded players.

“They’re growing their playoff beards, so I just decided, you know what, it hit me: I’m going to make a playoff lawn and I’m going to make a sign for it and I’m going to embrace it So, embrace my ugly lawn,” Miller says.

Miller made a sign explaining his scheme, and others soon embraced his ugly lawn.

“People drive by, they beep, some people get out and take pictures with it. It’s amazing to me,” he says.

But there was an exception. The city sent him a written warning: Cut the grass or else.

The notice, however, sat unopened.

Miller’s explanation: “We thought it was the water bill.”

Eventually, it all caught up with him.

“My son and I are watching the game and I hear a lawnmower going,” Miller says. “I think it’s my neighbor cutting their lawn, and it started getting closer. And there’s a guy cutting my grass with this giant industrial lawnmower.”

“I go, ‘Hey, what are you doing!’ And he’s like, ‘The city told me to come by and cut your lawn,’ and I go, ‘They paid you to?’ and he’s like ‘Yeah.’ I’m like, OK, that was the end of my playoff lawn.”

But like any good Hawks fan, Miller believes in comebacks.

For now, his lawn is getting back in the game.

“When the Hawks have won (it all), that’s when I’ll cut it,” he says.

Miller’s lawn was considered a health risk, because it could become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. City officials say they’ll send him an invoice for the lawn work.

Here’s what Frank Miller’s lawn looked like before city intervention. (Frank Miller)